Scotland’s road signs on the blink. New figures show LED signs at fault on average more than once per year 

Scotland’s network of LED road signs break down more than once per year, according to new transport data highlighted by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Figures from Transport Scotland uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats reveal that there are 313 variable message signs deployed on Scotland’s road network, including 56 on the M90, 48 on the M74, 25 on the M80, 21 on the M8 and 20 on the A9.

From January 2021 to March 2025, these signs required 1,419 fault repairs, meaning that the average sign had to be fixed 4.5 times in a little over four years.

Jamie Greene, Scottish Lib Dem MSP, questioned whether the ‘high-tech’ solution was offering value for money.

He said: “Traffic drives people round the bend. There’s no worse feeling than having a holiday or a commute disrupted by road works, repairs or long tailbacks.

“Scotland has invested heavily in measures like LED signs to keep road users safe and informed. Unfortunately these signs seem to be prone to breakdowns of their own.

“We asked how much these signs cost to install and repair and Transport Scotland were unable to answer. High-tech solutions are all well and good but perhaps Transport Scotland should set out what benefits these signs provide and whether they think they are providing good value for money.”  

Transport Scotland said, however, that the majority of the 1,419 faults will have been ‘minor automatically generated faults which do not affect the operation of the VMS’, which would have been addressed during ‘routine cyclic maintenance of the equipment.’

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “Faults are to be expected given the nature of electrical equipment at the roadside. We have strong contracts in place to ensure close monitoring and timely and effective repair where this is required.

“We are also continuing the delivery of annual programmes of investment to replace roadside technology, including variable message signs, on a prioritised basis.

“Variable Message Signs (VMS) are an integral part of the infrastructure used by Traffic Scotland to support the operation of the trunk road network and keep road users informed and safe. Real time traffic and travel information is provided though VMS to support the safe management of incidents and provide important information relating to things like weather warnings, police travel warnings, safety messaging, planned roadworks and journey times.”